A fusion of bank scams target veteran’s widow

A fusion of bank scams target veteran's widow

By Greg Collier

We hope all our readers had a safe, joyous, and scam-free Christmas. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your gift card balances before using them.

Over the past year, we’ve seen several new ways in which scammers have lured their victims into a financial trap. None has been more disturbing than scams that target the families who have recently lost a loved one. Scammers scan the obituaries looking for victims who may not be thinking clearly since they’re grieving. At best, you have a scammer posing as the funeral home trying to squeeze money out of you, at worst you have a real estate scammer trying to steal a family’s home with a phony deed scam. Now, we’re seeing scammers using the obituaries to gain access to the bank accounts of those in mourning.

Back in November, a US Army Veteran who had been awarded the Purple Heart passed away. According to his widow, a week after the soldier’s memorial, she was targeted in a bank scam. The scammers posed as USAA, a bank whose customer base is largely members of the military, veterans, and their families. Like most bank scams these days, the soldier’s widow received a text message that appeared to come from USAA warning her of fraudulent activity on her account.

The text message included a customer service number to call, but the number didn’t go to USAA. Instead, it went to a scammer call center impersonating USAA. According to the victim, the scammers even used USAA’s customized hold music while she was on the phone with the scammers.

The victim was talked into giving the scammers enough personal information where the scammers gained access to her bank account. At this point, scammers typically drain the account of its funds. However, this time, the scammers took the scam even further. A phony check was deposited into the account for $4500. Before the check was discovered to be fraudulent, the scammers withdrew not only the $4500 from the phony check, but the remaining funds in the account as well.

The victim reported the scam to the police and USAA, but the bank initially denied her claim for a refund, stating they determined the transactions were not fraudulent. That was until she went to a local TV news station with her story. After the news station got involved, USAA returned the lost money to her.

If you receive a text message from your bank about any questionable activity on your account, stop for a moment. Do not call any number included in the text message or click any links the message may contain. Instead, call your bank directly at the customer service number listed on the back of your bank card.